Ulysses and Penelope Ward

Even if it was nothing untoward, it would appear unethical to anyone who witnessed me with him. I trusted Brad Siefert. He'd always been good to me. But, talk to him before a major negotiation on money—big money. Couldn't do it.

Penelope understood. Said she had to ask even though she knew the answer. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. I didn't see the guy behind the potted plant snapping pictures.

******

The negotiations had gone on for a good two hours. My boss called a half hour break. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. I had to pee. Just as I was about to turn the corner to head down the hall to the little boys room, I heard them talking.

"So whaddya think," said Brad Siefert.

"He won't sell out his boss or the company, but he'll likely do a better by us than he has with some of the other vendors we've talked to. It's the best we can get out of the little shit," said Penelope Morgan.

My ex-boss laughed. Philips got the picture of you kissing him. That and your audio of the two of you fucking and sucking should be enough if he tries to play hardball with us. So, do you think you can milk him, and I don't mean his ball sack," said Brad.

"Yes. I have him by the short hairs. He'll do whatever I say, now. Letting him get off was the key. It was all I could do to keep a straight face while he was fucking me. He is so fucking inept. But, again, in his defense, he hasn't had much practice over these past many years," said Penelope, the two of them laughed.

"Pen, I have it on good authority that All Hallows will be expanding to two thousand stores in the next few years. I want that business," said Brad. "You're going to be an integral part of the campaign to bring them around. I need you, babe, catering to his physical needs," said Siefert.

"And, I need your eight inch dick," she said. "Oh, and the bonus you promised me."

"You get wimpy to come around, and I'll double what you're going to get this time around," he said.

"I like the way you think," she said.

They were laughing, but I was smiling. Peeing would have to wait. I suddenly had a meeting with my boss.

******

"Really," said Rod Hughs, having heard my verbal essay.

"Yes," I said.

"And you think you can get those employees back at Wilcom to follow your lead?" he said.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure. We can offer them the kind of autonomy and rewards that Wilcom isn't in a position to counter," I said, "at least not in anything like the near future."

"Well, we still need to get the materials from them and get it all installed this time around. But, once it's in, we'll look into pirating those guys and cut Siefert and his outta the mix.

"I must say, I'm surprised that you are being so ruthless in your pursuit of this stuff. I would have thought that with your ex in the mix that, well, you might have been planning on going a little easier on them than otherwise," he said.

I harrumphed a snicker. "I work for All Hallows, not Wilcom. Plus, I happened to come into some information that kinda lent a negative cast to my attachment to my old employers. They were planning on using me, or more accurately my feelings for my ex-wife, to leverage an unfair long-term advantage in their favor. I suspect that they were going to actually blackmail me.

"They'd still have done the job, and doubtless a good one, but economically we might have been in for a serious screwing over. That ain't gonna happen, not on my watch," I said. Mister Hughs smiled, nodded, and we made to get back to the meeting.

******

"So, Mr. Siefert," said Rodney Hughs, we are agreed then on both scheduling and costs, overruns."

"We are," he said. "We thank you and your staff of being so flexible."

My boss looked over at me. "Any final words, Uly," said Mr. Hughs.

"No, no, it all looks fine form here," I said. I tendered Penelope a smile; she returned it, but I thought it a little forced.

"Then, we are adjourned," said Mr. Hughs.

We milled around for a few minutes sipping our waters and saying all of the right things. I got the high sign from Pen. The treacherous bitch wanted to speak with me. I accommodated her.

"So, whaddya think, Uly?" she said.

"About?" I said.

"Us, of course," she said.

"Not yet, Pen. Too much to get around for a decision like that to be put together on short notice," I said. She nodded.

"Okay. But, if you get to town . . ."

"I'll give you a heads up," I said. Her turn to nod.

"Okay, but I miss you," she said.

"It's been eight years, Pen. Don't seem like there's much of a hurry," I said.

"Okay, okay. Anyway, be well," she said. Then, she kissed me on the cheek, turned and headed out

She seemed so damn sincere. If I hadn't heard dissing me, I would not have been thinking the thoughts I was in fact thinking.

Except for the mandated holiday cards and a call on my birthday, I didn't see or hear from Penelope Morgan for another year. Then, I did.

******

I was sitting in my Phoenix office finishing up a contract submission to be sent to main office. Phyllis, my secretary, buzzed me.

"Got a visitor Mr. Ward," she said.

"Send him in," I said. The door opened and she didn't quite storm in. She plopped down in the chair across from me.

I was caught figuratively with my pants down.

"Hear All Hallows has a whole bunch of new stores on the drawing board," she said without so much as a hello.

"And, hello to you too Mrs. Morgan," I said.

"Yes, hello, Mr. Ward. Sorry, it's been a heckuva morning. Please forgive my curtness," she said. I nodded my willingness to be magnanimous.

"So, and how have you and Mr. Siefert been?" I said. I knew that I had a slight smile on my face.

"Huh?" she said. "Uh—Mr. Siefert is fine. I'm fine," she said.

"Good, good," I said. "So what brings you a fifteen hundred miles away from your home base to burst in here without so much as a hello" I said. She deflated.

"I am sorry, Uly. Like I said, it's been a heckuva morning. I guess I kinda lost it—not because of you—but because of other stuff," she said.

"Okay. Anything I can help you with?" I said.

"Actually, yes," she said. The fact is you're the only one who can help me," she said. She'd surprised me.

"Really," I said. "Pray tell." She gave me a look. I was being a trifle flippant and she was clearly having trouble reading me.

"Uly, did I do something wrong here?" she said. "I mean my entrance of course, but . . ."

"No, no. Continue," I said. I was still vaguely smiling.

"Uly, I'm going to give it to you straight. I'm on the verge of getting fired," she said. Her eyes were misting up. This was interesting.

"Fired? Why? You've been with Siefert forever," said.

"Last year you, well, All Hallows, signed with us to install our software wiring, in all of your then stores, into a common network among other things. Everything was done, and mostly on time, i.e., a very small amount went over schedule," she said.

"Yes, that's so," I said. "So?"

"So why has Wilcom been cut out of the mix now?" she said "Brad is blaming me for screwing up the deal. But, I didn't, Uly. I have done everything he said to do. Now, if I can't get you—I know you're the decision maker here—to let us in on the rest of your stores . . ." she went silent.

"I see. If you can't convince me to keep on keepin' on with Wilcom, your boss will terminate you. That about it?' I said.

"I'll do anything Uly, really," she said. She stood, took a few steps back and began stripping. She hadn't even locked the door. I sat their opened mouth when her last stitch pooled at her feet.

She stood looking at me forlorn and vulnerable. Hands at her naked sides, her eyes implored me to take her and save her. Clearly this was her, as she saw it, last salvo.

"Put your clothes back on, Pen, and take a seat," I said.

"Pen, I know you think that this 'little shit,' me, isn't worth a damn sexually. I know it, and you've said it, and having sex with you is never going to happen for me again. Mores the pity, you are the best as far as I'm concerned," I said.

"You're wrong Uly. I love having sex with you, really," she said.

"It's all you can do to keep from laughing at me when we've done it, Pen, kinda of a killer for the old ego," I said.

"Uly, I never said you anything like that to you or about you," she said.

"You're a liar, Pen. Last year, between the negotiations meetings. I heard you talking to Siefert. You said exactly those words to him. Very similar to the ones you said long ago to Herbert. It hurt me, Pen. I've never done anything to you or to him, but you felt the need to talk some pretty cold smack about me to each other." She paled.

"You . . ." she started.

"Yes, I was just around the corner from where you were plotting to screw All Hallows over in the negotiations.

"For the record it was him and his attitude that is the reason for us not going with Wilcom in the future," I said.

She suddenly morphed from tragedy to high interest—suspicion. "Uly? Did three of our best people quitting this past month have anything to do with your decision to go in a different direction now," she said. I just stared at her.

"I see," she said.

"I doubt it," I said.

She ignored my words. "Getting' a lot of pussy these days, Uly?" She was fishing. I just stared at her.

"Uly, you can have me anytime. I know a man has needs, desperate needs. And, I know you have to be desperate," she said.

"How would you know that, Pen?" I said.

She squirmed a little in her seat. I guess she decided to be up front with me. "I checked up on you, Uly. The private dick I hired found out some stuff," she said.

I know my face had to have clouded over. "You weren't in danger of being fired were you, Pen?" I said. She sank back in her chair. "You're Siefert's attack dog aren't you?"

She looked away. "We need the account, Uly. Wilcom has fallen on hard times. We could go under if we don't pick up a couple of majors soon," she said.

"Not my problem, Pen," I said. "And for the record, I really take exception to being spied on; well, you can imagine." She stood as I returned to the signings I had to be getting off to main office.

She stopped at the door, turned and looked at me. "No, I wasn't in danger of being fired, Uly. But, I may be in danger of being unemployed if Wilcom goes under. Any chance you'll hire me?"

I had to admire her brass. "I'll consider your application if and when that happens, Pen. Now, if you'll excuse me," I said.

******

Six months later there was an article in Forbes, page thirteen. Wilcom had gone under and the CEO had been arrested for misappropriation of funds. Big surprise, I thought. I wondered if indeed she'd apply for a job with me. I also wondered if she might not be arrested. She worked awfully closely with Siefert.

I got my answer to my musings two months later.

******

I was in the my office at the main office for a meeting with other members of the high command.

"Got a minute, Uly," said Rodney Hughs as I was exiting the conference room.

"For the boss? I don't know, I suppose I could spare a moment or two," I said. He laughed.

"Got an application this morning," he said.

"An application?" I said.

"Yes, for employment. The resume looks good," he said. He wasn't smiling. I was betting I knew who it was. I was right.

"Really," I said.

"Yes, Your ex. She needs a job. You want me to hire her?" he said. I caught myself nodding.

"She wants to work with who?" I said.

"Me?" he said. "I'm inclined to hire her, but not if you're against it. She'd be a good assistant, but you're about a hundred and forty times more valuable than she would be. Ergo, I'm here asking for your imprimatur."

"Rod, could you send her around to me. I want her to know that if we hire it's because, at least in part, because I'm okay with it. Would that be all right?' I said.

"Just what I had in mind," he said, smiling.

"For the record, what is she looking for in terms of salary? I mean if I may be so bold as to ask," I said.

"Fifty?" he said.

"She was making eighty at Wilcom," I said.

"Yeah, but she's in a beggars can't be choosers situation right now. Some of Siefert's dirt rubbed off on her I guess," he said.

"She's worth eighty," I said. "I mean if we can ensure her loyalty." He nodded.

"You can offer her eighty if you want, Uly. Kinda make her beholding to you. I mean even though she'll be working for me."

"Yeah, it would, wouldn't it. But, no, you need to do the offering. But, I do want to talk to her before you take the plunge if that's all right," I said.

"It is," he said.

******

I was in payroll signing some trip reports for some of my direct employees.

"Mister Ward," said a voice I will never forget.

"Hello, Mrs. Morgan," I said, not looking up.

"Mister Hughs said you wanted to speak with me," she said. Now, I looked up.

"Why don't know you go up to my office and wait. Phyllis is expecting you," I said. "I'll be up in a few."

******

I was twenty minutes getting upstairs. I could have gone up sooner, but I needed a cup of coffee, and Nadine Crisostomo was thrilled to share one with me. Oh, and I with her. Oh and Nadine? A recent hire of mine that I was training in quality control my way. Oh, and yes we'd been dating. A workplace romance? Yes, and I was high enough up the chain of command—I was one of four VPs—to make me Teflon in that respect.

"So you're going to hire your ex?" said Nadine.

"No, The big boss is; but I could veto it if I wanted to. But, no, Rod will do the hiring if anyone's going to." I said.

"The rumor is she was involved in the scandal at Wilcom. May have profited from her boss' greed," said Nadine.

"Maybe indirectly. I know her. She didn't take any bribes per se. But, her asshole boss probably did fund her trips and whatnot," I said.

"Hear he's doing a dime for his crimes," said Nadine. "He'll be out in six probably," said Nadine.

"That's what I hear," I said.

"Well, you better get up there and lay down the law," said Nadine. "Don't be too long. We have reservation at Corbulo's," she said.

We parted, and I headed upstairs.

******

I walked right past her and into my office. She gave me a questioning look that I caught.

I got on the intercom. "Phyllis, please send in Mrs. Morgan," I said. She was very pretty.

"You wanted to see me?" said my ex-wife.

"Hear you applied," I said, ignoring her remark. "Have a seat."

"Yes, but here not in Phoenix. I know you don't want me there," she said.

"I never said that, Pen, but this is your home. If we hire you, you should stay here," I said.

"I take it that it's up to you," she said.

"We won't be seeing each other much, and that's a good thing, Penelope. I still have feelings for you in spite of all of the put downs and hurts you piled on me in earlier days," I said.

"I'm sorry about all of that, Uly, truly. Whether you hire me or not, I did want to say that to you yet again," she said. I nodded.

"Apology accepted," I said.

"Uly, anytime you need something . . ." I smirked.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I said. She looked dubious.

"No expiration date," she said.

"I have a new squeeze, Pen. Don't know where it'll go yet, but . . .well, I'm hopeful," I said.

"That's good, Uly. I'm happy for you," she said. I nodded.

"Pen, may I ask, you and Siefert?" I said.

"He's in prison, Uly. I know you know that," she said.

"Yes, and one day he'll be getting out. So . . ."

"I don't know. Maybe," she said. "We did have a thing. But ten years . . ." She was starting cry.

"He won't be in there that long," I said, trying to comfort her.

"Huh?" she said.

"Good behavior, a little luck: it could be more like half of that," I said.

"Really?" she said.

"Really," I said.

I didn't tell her, but I had an in and some political clout. I might use it to get her true love out a bit earlier than not if the asshole made restitution and did a million hours of community service. Even though Siefert had become something of a champion asshole in these past few years; I saw that as a function of his company's bad luck. There had been good relations between him and me when I was at Wilcom. That still counted for something.

******

My romance with Nadine became pretty heated over the next year or so. So much so that I was thinking about making the big move.

And Siefert. He was out in four years. I had it on good authority, Pen herself, that the two of them were going to tie the knot. The supreme irony? Pen was working for my boss, and good 'ole Brad was working for me. He was my resident office assistant at central. Oh, and his salary—40K—half of what his soon to be wife was making. Well, ex-cons typically didn't do as well as those on the straight and narrow.

Life was good.